Peter Altmaier (60, CDU) is the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and is a close confidant of the Chancellor. BILD spoke to him about the succession at the top of the CDU.

BILD: Mr. Altmaier, do 12 candidates for the CDU chair represent an opportunity – or chaos?

Altmaier: “It’s clearly an opportunity. The CDU is an open, lively party. I’m sure that tens of thousands of party members will come to the regional conferences.”

Will the new chair automatically be a candidate for the chancellorship?

Altmaier: “We’ll now elect a party chair, not a candidate for the chancellorship. Nothing happens automatically. We will determine who will follow Angela Merkel as Chancellor as democratically as we’ll determine the party chairmanship.”

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Does the CDU merely need a new face or a new direction?

Altmaier: “If you want to change the direction of the CDU in a one-sided way, or if you want to reduce it to a single topic, you’ll face difficulties. The majority of Germans do not want a fundamental change of direction. As I understand Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz, and Jens Spahn, they don’t want that either.”

In other words, the party’s direction was, and is, correct. The voters just haven’t understood it properly?

Altmaier: “No. The irritation of many voters is understandable. The long time it took to form the government and the subsequent endless argument between the SPD, CSU, and CDU gave the impression that the coalition is far too much concerned with itself.”

Doesn’t the CDU need a change of course when it comes to the issue of migration?

Altmaier: “No – humaneness and toughness are good guidelines. We have drastically reduced the influx into Germany and have accelerated the procedures. The return of rejected asylum applicants – especially offenders – is the biggest issue yet to be resolved. This is also a measure of the credibility of the state of law. In the autumn of 2016, I already demanded that this issue be addressed as a national endeavor. However, not all federal states have picked up on this.”

Former minister Hermann Gröhe has said: “If you present yourself as an Anti-Merkel, you will lose”. Do you agree with that?

Altmaier: “At the party conference, Angela Merkel will receive a great amount of approval and appreciation for her 18 years at the top of the CDU. No candidate for her succession should underestimate that.”

In an article, Friedrich Merz has called for a common European unemployment insurance. Will the CDU follow this suggestion?

Altmaier: “Our aim must be to reduce unemployment throughout Europe – and not to finance it for all of Europe. So far, I don’t find this idea convincing.”